The Sound Of The Leaves And Grass V2
by Dante'sRaven1993
Summary: REBOOT Response To Challenge by theD2.0. Kusa is a Great Nation with its own Ninja village and Kage, Naruto is taken and raised there by his Godmother Izanami after the Kyuubi Sealing. This is rewritten starting from scratch, Old reader's re-read as this is all new content, not simply re-hashed. NaruXKarinXTayuya Rated M for Tayuya's Mouth and violence. There be no lemons here!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Hey guys sorry for being absent for ages, got caught up with exams on January and May, but I'm back. Yes this is a reboot; I got stuck with where to go on this. Then I did some thinking and sort of mapped out a butterfly-effect for my changes to canon, and the bits I was stuck with smoothed out. This first chapter should be mostly new content, Spanning back to the third shinobi war, and showing the changes at key points in history.**

**Chapter 1**

**-Third Shinobi War: Assault on Kannabi Bridge—**

As the dust cleared from the ensuing battle, the three remaining Nin were able to take stock of their surroundings. And that was the problem, they were one member short.

"RIN-CHAN" the deafening pleas of the young teenager, as he searched frantically for his crush on the bridge. There was another boy present, spiky silver hair and a mask adorned his face. It did well to hide his emotions, but there was no denying his widened eyes and twitchy movements.

"RIN-C-CHAN" The other boy screamed again, his voice growing hoarse as he fell to his knees, tears falling freely as he reached for the discarded headband of his teammate  
"Come on Obito-kun, there's no need for that," The third member, their mission leader, embraced him, "What would Minato say if he saw you like this?"

"He'd tell me to chin up and stay strong until the end, Izanami-senpai" Obito sniffled as he wiped his eyes and replaced his goggles. He passed the headband to her.

"Good," She straightened herself up, and wiped her emerald bangs from her face, "Now, the Iwa Nin must have taken her as a prisoner during the fight and fled, hope fully we can get to her before it's too late. Kakashi-kun, call your summons, we'll need their help to track her, and don't worry, we have a tracker that rivals the Inuzaka" Kakashi nodded, pulling his mask down to bite his thumb, catching the headband with his other.

"Obito-kun?" She looked down at the young shinobi in her arms and gently released him so he could look at her. "Now Obito, I need you and Kakashi to track down Rin, track her down but do not engage the enemy, you're still too weak from this fight, both of you" She glanced at Kakashi who just shrugged, she returned her gaze back to Obito "Only engage the enemy you think they're gonna kill her, I'm regrouping with a team from my village, we'll have medic nin, they'll be able to patch her up if she gets hurt." Obito averted his gaze from Izanami's, unwilling to look her in the eyes.

"Obito, I need you to say it, to know that you understand your orders" He stiffened, and reluctantly spoke, still averting his gaze

"Yes Izanami, we are to track Rin, and only interfere if they intend to kill her"

"Good, you have your orders, I'll meet up with you soon" She retrieved the headband from Kakashi and took off into the tree line. Obito stood their, unmoving. Kakashi came up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Dobe, Rin-chan's waiting" Obito gave a chuckle

"You're not gonna stop calling me that? Are you, Teme?"

"Only when you stop calling me 'Teme', Dobe" And with that set out on Rin's trail.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

It was dark, she wasn't blindfolded, but that didn't matter, the darkness made her blind enough. She tried to move, but she found her arms and legs restrained, but she felt her self swaying for her efforts. So here she was, alone in the dark, suspended in the air.

"Well, looks like sleeping beauty's woken up" A mans voice to her left, or was it her right, she couldn't tell, the echo made it impossible.

"We need information on Konoha and its allies, we know you're one of the Flash's students, you'll have what we need, and you can find I can be very persuasive." She heard the sound of footsteps grow louder as he spoke, the suddenly silence. But that silence was short lived as she felt a hand grab her wrist and she let loose a bloodcurdling scream as white hot pain burned throughout her body. Then as soon as it began, it stopped. Her breathing ragged, she heard him laugh to himself,

"I love it when they scream, I am going to enjoy this so much, I hope your ready bitch, because that was the lowest voltage" Rin steeled herself against the imminent torture, no matter how much it hurt, no matter what he did, she'd never betray Konoha, she'd rather die than have to face her teammates after betrayal. She wouldn't lie to herself, she was terrified, but she wouldn't give her torturer the satisfaction. She could only remain their, praying her teammates would find her, and if they couldn't, then pray the shinigami would be merciful.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Two Ninja were sat perched around the fire, one of whom was sat much closer than the other, and wrapped up in a thick travellers cloak.

"I hate it during winter, it's so damn cold, and I can feel my muscles seizing up"

"Oh would you shut up, you're like this all the time. Oh boo-hoo, I'm cold-blooded, I need blazing heats to stay active." The kunoichi snapped, the shinobi snorted,

"Well maybe if you let me take the Yutakachi pills, I'd be less annoying"

"You know your only allowed them if it's an emerg-" But she was interrupted by a second kunoichi barrelling through the foliage.

"Izanami-Sensei" Both students stood at attention to their teacher and leader

"At ease, Wani, Michiyo." She regarded them both for minute, "Arguing again"

"Yes" "No" They both responded, then turned to glare daggers at each other.

"Okay that's enough, we have an emergency mission, one of Minato's students has been kidnapped by Iwa, the rest of Minato's team is on her trail, but we need to provide back up. Michiyo"

"Yes sensei"

"Give Wani a Yuta Pill". As Michiyo begrudgingly reached into her pouch for a pill, Izanami could swear she could hear her other student mutter something like 'told you so' before receiving a sharp jab to chest, and a pill to the face. He turned away grumbling, hand disappearing into his hood as he ate the pill.  
The effect was almost instantaneous; he immediately jumped up performing multiple flips into the air, before hanging of a tree and proceeding to stretch his limbs.

"Ahh, much better" He drop down and righted himself, his face still obscured by his hood. "So you want me to track them?"

"Here" Izanami held out Rin's headband and he took it from her grasp, he lifted the headband up towards the opening of his hood and a forked tongue flicked out and danced across the fabric and metal. He glanced up and noticed Michiyo looking at him, he gave her a smirk,

"Like something you see?" and gave an exaggerated 'lick' along the plate. She turned away from him, in an attempt to hide her blush at his comment, in truth she had thought about her teammate in such a manner on several occasions. Not that she'd ever admit it.  
"S-shut up you stupid pervert" Catching her blush, he inwardly chuckled, but chose to not act upon it, as there were more pressing matters upon them

"I've got the scent, if you ladies would follow me and try to keep up" He leapt to the tree line and bounded off. Izanami chuckled;

"He'll never change will he?"

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Kakashi was known for two things, his apparent 'genius', and his permanent stoic expression. He would admit that their current situation nearly had his self imposed mask of aloofness failing. But more than Rin's predicament, what worried him more was how Obito was handling the situation. Gone was the carefree idiot who always provided a laugh when needed. Gone was the boy who'd pull a prank to get a laugh. Instead his face showed no emotion, his gaze fixed straight ahead as they bounded through the trees after Kakashi's tracker dog.

"Obito, are you okay?"

"…" No reply

"Obito?"

"…"

"Dobe?"

"…"

Kakashi was scared, he'd never seen Obito like this. He could only hope Izanami would catch up to them before they found Rin. He wouldn't like to think about what Obito would do when he found the kidnappers.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

"AAARRRRGGGHHHH" Rin let loose yet another bloodcurdling scream as the lightning tore through her body again. She'd lost count the amount the amount of times she'd being shocked, her torturers sickeningly sweet, light touches as his fingertips danced across the exposed skin if her arms and legs. But she remained strong, she refused to betray her friends to these monsters no matter what they did.

"You're a resilient one aren't you?" He gave a chuckle "It seems more extreme measures need to be taken." The light dances of his fingers slowly turned into caresses as his hands roamed her body, crudely groping at her small chest and sliding down the juncture of her legs. She couldn't scream, but only let out a muffled cry as her mouth was taken by his. Tears fell freely from her eyes as the reality of the situation began to dawn on her. She was going to be raped. Raped by an enemy who she couldn't see or defend against. She didn't want this, she didn't want her first time to be like this, her body shaking in fear at what was about to happen.  
"You're a bit young for my tastes, but I'm sure I'll still enjoy it" She shivered as she felt the cold steel of a kunai ghost against her leg and drag upwards towards her pants, felt them pull tighter before she heard the sound of fabric ripping.

"NO!" she choked as she felt the cool air on her skin and heard the rustling of clothes that were not her own.

"RIN-CHAN" She was blinded as a sudden beam of light struck through the darkness like a sword, illuminating her body. The enemy Nin forgotten as her vision adjusted to make out Obito standing in a doorway. His face obscured by the shadows, but the outfit unmistakable. He ran towards his teammate and crush with reckless abandon, and began to untie her. "Rin-chan are you ok," he noticed her torn clothes, the angry red burns that marred her arms and legs "Oh god, they didn't, I'll kill the bastards I'll kill them"

"Obito, he's h-" but before she could warn him that her kidnapper was still here a hand reach out of the darkness and gripped Obito's throat.

"Well isn't this cute, your knight in shining armour has come to save you" He gave a dark laugh and the grip on Obito's neck tightened. "Hmm, I think its time he met the dragon" Lightning coursed through Obito's body, burning the skin on is neck. Rin could only hang there helpless as her teammate was tortured in front of her. Where was Kakashi? Where was Izanami? Where was Minato-sensei? Why was nobody helping? Why?

The lightning stopped as the enemy was forced to drop Obito to block an incoming attack from his left. Kakashi had joined the fray, his sword drawn and swinging to and fro at his opponent only to be parried by a kunai. Obito was on his knees, gasping for are through his charred windpipe, he glanced up to try and find his comrade, to find he could now see more than he could before. The darkness no longer an obstacle, his vision perfect, the complex dance of swordplay slowed down, he could see the moves before they were executed. He'd done it, he'd activated his sharingan. But he knew this was no time to celebrate, he needed to help his friends. He pushed himself up, with much protest from his sore muscles. He stood up, unsteady, swaying slightly as he fought for balance.

"Are you –cough- okay –cough- Rin-chan?" She could only nod in response to his question, debilitated by shock.

"I'm going to untie you now, okay?" Yet again she could only nod. Obito set about untying the ropes and gingerly setting her down on the stone ground. Reassuring himself that, for the moment at least, she was fine, he refocused his gaze on the fight.

"KAKASHI-TEME" He saw the move before it happened, Kakashi had being disarmed, his sword lay forgotten on the ground, but he was too far away, too slow to stop it. His shout had however stopped the blow from being fatal, but did nothing to stoop the kunai slicing into Kakashi's left cheek and sliding up his face to become lodged in the socket. The pain was too much; he blacked out instantly and fell limp, the kunai falling from the Iwa shinobi's grasp as it remained lodged. While stuck in contemplation on how to finish off his opponent, he was caught unawares by Obito, who had retrieved the fallen blade and plunged it into the shinobi's stomach.  
"Good move-" He paused slightly as he spat blood into Obito's goggles, "knight" A twisted smile graced his face, "But I refuse to bested by a brat, if I'm going down, I'm taking you with me" With that he formed a handseal and the cave was rocked by a massive explosion.

**A/N – Yes I'm cruel for leaving a cliff hanger without much changed, I just want to keep chapter lengths consistent, and I think 2,100 is a reasonable target for each chapter. The next chapter WILL have the resolution to this, and then jump through of key events In backstory: return to Konoha, Kyuubi attack, Uchiha massacre and possibly team selections in both Kusa and Konoha, but that could be saved for chapter 3. As always read and review, and I appreciate all ideas and criticisms, but the Main pairing will always remain KarinXNarutoXTayuya as per challenge stipulations, (But other character pairing suggestions are welcome) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**-Third Shinobi War: Assault on Kannabi Bridge (Continued)—**

Hot onto Rin's scent, the Kusa team was racing through the dense foliage to reach the Minato's team before anything happened. They continued uninterrupted until they heard the explosion. Thinking fast, Wani quickly dropped to the ground, removing his gloves, revealing his hands. Hands which displayed dark green scales across the face of his hand which shimmered in the light as though it was wet, while his palm in comparison was pale beige and slightly ribbed. If one were to feel his hands they would find them remarkably dry and his palms surprisingly soft. He placed his hand to the ground, focussing intently for any disturbance. It took a few seconds, but he could feel them, small vibrations that gently rattled the earth, undetectable by human means, but, then again, Wani wasn't exactly human. He hailed from the Haruchuri clan of Aizawagakure, an old clan, rumoured to be older than the Uchiha or Senju clans. They were said to have evolved from the creatures that dwelled in the swamp to mimic the dominant species, at least, that's what the villagers said. But in reality it was merely a Kekkai Genkai, granting its members the traits of Reptiles, although varying in degree and species for each clan member, there were key traits shared between each member of the clan, allowing them to develop into specialist tracker and stealth shinobi. By using his hand, and the very sensitive sensors in his skin, he was able to detect the distance and direction of any vibration. It was in use of this technique he was able to pinpoint where the explosion originated, and most likely, the location of Team Minato.

"They're 2 miles North-West of our location, by the feel of things; it seems like the party's already started, but if we hurry we can get there before anything serious happens"

The two kunoichi nodded in agreement and followed his lead.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

The dust had finally cleared in the cave, or more precisely, what was left of it. Half of the ceiling had being rigged with explosive kunai, bringing down the rock and allowing light to spill into the chamber. Finally Rin was allowed to see her place of captivity. Her eyes roamed the wreckage as she instinctively hugged her body to keep warm. Kakashi was in the clear, none of the rocks near him had being rigged, the Iwa Shinobi had being crushed instantly, and Obito… Obito was there, but his lower half was trapped under the rocks. Rin clambered to her feet, ignoring the pain as she ran over to Obito's side.

"Obito-kun" she whispered tentatively, fearing she may never get a response. His eyes flickered open and he turned his head and smiled

"I got him good, didn't I?"

"Oh O-Obito-kun" She hung her head, gripping his jacket as she tried to stem the tears

"R-rin-chan, its okay," He tried to reassure her "There's something I want you to do"

He coughed slightly, tasting blood in his mouth.

"What is it Obito-kun?"

"Kakashi" He stated, "He lost one of his eyes in the fight, and I want you to give him mine"

"Wh-" But she was cut off as Obito explained

"Rin-chan, I'm scared. Scared that I might not make it."

"Don't speak like that idiot"

"Listen, I'm serious. There's a good chance I'm right. If so, I want to help Kakashi. I don't want him to be handicapped the rest of life, if I can help him, I will"

"But why?" Rin pleaded

"Because in some small way, I will be always protecting you, even after I'm gone"

"…" Rin was speechless; she had no answer, no retort for Obito's statement

"I need you to promise Rin-chan, promise you'll do this. For me"

"I will" The tears were running freely, seeing no need to hide them from her dying friend. Her body froze as she felt soft fingers caress her face, wiping away her tears.

"Don't cry Rin-chan, tears don't suit you" His hand then rested on her cheek as he brought his head up and gently kissed her lips. After what seemed like an eternity, he pulled away, a small smile on his face. "I love you Rin-chan, I always have. I just wanted you to know before..." But he never finished as he slipped away from consciousness.  
Rin was still, unmoving, the confession replaying in her head. Her face locked in an emotionless stare as she began to diligently make the procedures for the eye transplant, bring Kakashi over to Obito to make it easier. Taking small relief that Obito's pulse still remained, though notably weaker. The operation was quick and clean through practice and experience. A bandage was fashioned out of fabric from Obito's jacket to cover his empty socket.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

That was how the Kusa team found Team Minato, Rin kneeling down over Kakashi and Obito, Obito still trapped under the debris. Michiyo was the first to react, as she swept down and began diagnosing Obito. Her hand gained a green glow as she hovered over his body. She stopped at his waist; and with an earth jutsu, cleared the stone and continued. She brought her hand to her mouth as she gasped. "His legs, their completely broken, I don't even recognise the pieces. This is far too advanced for me to heal. I can stabilise him, but if we can't get him to Tsunade-sama soon, he'll lose his legs."

Izanami rummaged in the pouch on her leg, and pulled out a small scroll. She unrolled it on the floor to reveal a seal for the Hiraishin; next to it another seal. She bit her thumb and smeared the blood onto the smaller seal, causing the Hiraishin seal to glow. Moments later the group was joined by none other than Minato Namikaze, albeit about 20 foot in the air, to which gravity took its course, causing said shinobi fall ungracefully to the floor.

"Oww dammit, it's still not right yet" All conscious shinobi present sweat dropped at his entrance. He got up and dusted himself down.

"So what can I do for you Izanami?" His ever cheerful expression turned to the Kusa kunoichi

"It's Obito, you need to get him to Tsunade-sama now" Minato's expression darkened

"What happened?"

"There's no time, he needs to go now" Minato nodded, he gingerly picked up his student.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you Obito-kun" He whispered to the unconscious boy "HIRAISHIN"

**-Konoha Gates: 1 week later—**

Rin and Kakashi, now recovered, had been escorted back to Konoha by the Kusa team. Rin's burns had been partially healed by Michiyo, and for what couldn't be healed by ninjutsu, was done by the burn ointment in Michiyo's medical scroll. Kakashi was fairing only slightly better, with his only real injury being his left eye. As Michiyo checked his wounds, she praised Rin's skills in the eye transplant, commenting she couldn't have done a better job herself, earning a blush from the young kunoichi. The only problem Kakashi had found was that the sharingan eye wouldn't deactivate and began to cause him a large amount of pain with prolonged usage, so he'd taken to wearing his headband at an angle so that it covered the eye, preventing it from working.

Conversations were light rarely lasted, not that there was nothing to talk about, just that the one topic one all their minds was one they didn't want to approach. Obito. In general, everyone was just hoping he was okay. But for the lone Kunoichi of team Minato, the thought of Obito was on her mind constantly, she kept replaying his confession, and the kiss, despite being brief and chaste, belayed his honesty in his feelings towards her.

His confession had caused her to evaluate what she really thought about her knucklehead teammate. Sure he could be annoying and loud at times, but he always went out of his way to make sure she was okay, and never failed to bring a smile to her face, at his expense or not. He was kind, generous and wanted to be friends with everyone he met. Over time she'd admit he'd become one of her dearest friends, and couldn't imagine a world without him in it. But she wasn't sure her feelings for him, were as strong as his feelings for her. She was adamant that when they got back to Konoha she would give this relationship a chance, and see where it took them. Little did she know how far it would take them.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

It had being tumultuous return for the remaining two-thirds of Team Minato, their first port of call had been the Hospital, where they found Obito under the care of Tsunade. She was quick to reassure the young ninja that Obito was fine, but he needed time to recover from the surgery. During his recovery, Rin never left his bedside, often talking to the unresponsive shinobi, although that kind of behaviour wasn't unusual in the hospital. Unfortunately, all wouldn't remain peaceful for the village of Konoha. Shortly after Obito's arrival, a clan representative visited his bedside to discover that one of his sharingan eyes was missing. News soon reached Fugaku, the Uchiha clan head, who made the executive decision to banish Obito from the Uchiha clan compound for allowing a non Uchiha to gain the power of the Sharingan. The Third Hokage was furious at Fugaku's decision and reasoning, but was unable to do anything about it due to falling under 'Clan Matters' policy of the shinobi council. He could however help the still hospital-bound Obito and secured him an apartment close to the Hatake's, so he wouldn't be far from those who could care for him.

As Obito recovered, he was first told of what had happened with the Uchiha clan during his recovery. He took the news better than most, being an orphan within the clan, he had no family he would miss, but it still hurt to be banished. Thankfully he had his friends and their families to look out for him and he gradually settled into his new life.

**-Kyuubi Attack—**

It was a disaster, all the careful preparation and planning for this day had gone south. They knew that when it was time for Kushina to give the birth seal would weaken, so to prevent the Kyuubi from escaping, a complex seal array had been set up to help contain the demon. But something went wrong. Jiraiya could only gaze upon the destruction brought by the 9-tailed, as it did battle with his greatest student and toad boss.

As the battle raged on, he reflected on what he knew had happened. In the secure, undisclosed location that Kushina was taken to, she was to be protected by the Sandaime, his wife, and Kushina's best friend, Izanami from Kusagakure, and the rumoured shoe-in as its next kage. Jiraiya had unfortunately been unable to attend the birth of his godson as he was… preoccupied, but he was shaken from his perverted activities by a sudden burst in demonic chakra.

'No no no no. This shouldn't be happening" In his haste he dropped his notepad and began leaping towards the source.

(The Kyuubi attack happens exactly as it does in canon, so I won't write it again)

Jiraiya arrived upon a scene of utmost despair, buildings were smoking, and bodies lay strewn across the streets. He steeled himself as he travelled through the village, blinding himself from the pain, focusing on finding Kushina.

He picked up her faint chakra signature on the outskirts of the village by the Namikaze residence. But what worried him more was that he couldn't sense Minato anywhere, or the Kyuubi for that matter.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

Kushina lay on the bed, as her life was slowly draining away from her. The stress of giving birth and the unsealing of the Kyuubi had just been too much. Rin was frantically running through diagnoses and medical ninjutsu to help Kushina through the ordeal, but to no avail.

"Come on Kushina, you can get through this. I did, and I had twins" She exclaimed. After the ordeal with the Uchiha Clan, Rin had confronted a very embarrassed Obito about his confession, and agreed to go on a date with him. Three years later Rin discovered she was pregnant with Obito's children and demanded, rather forcibly, that they get married. It was later that year, with Tsunade's help, that she gave birth to fraternal twins, Amami and Arashi, and she'd never been happier.

Izanami knelt by Kushina's side, sobbing, not wanting to lose her best friend.

"Please, please please don't go" Kushina weakly reached out and placed her hand on top of Izanami's

"Izanami, I need, I need you to promise me something" she struggled to form the words as she was drawing near

"Anything, anything Kushina" She wiped the tears from her eyes and refocused her gaze into Kushina's own

"I, I want you to look after Naruto for me, I want you to take him to your village where he will be free from prejudice"

"But what about Minato-kun? Surely he'll want to raise his son? Wait, what do you mean prejudice?"

"The Kyuubi, it's a demon. It's immortal, nothing can destroy it. The only way to stop it would be to seal it again"

"But what's that got to do with…" A look of realisation broke her melancholy expression, which quickly shifted to anger "No, he's not going to use that jutsu is he?"

Kushina just smiled at her friend "It's the only way, at least this way I know my son will have the power to protect himself and his precious people, and that he'll have the best mother I could hope for" Izanami felt fresh tears well in her eyes at her friends declaration

"I promise I'll do my best, and I'll make sure he knows exactly who his parents are" As she choked back a sob

Kushina let a smaller smile grace her face as she closed her eyes "That's all I could hope for, and I know that my husband will soon be joining me" And with that final breathe; Kushina Uzumaki ceased to be among the land of the living.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

"I don't care what you say; I'm taking him back to Kusagakure with me."

"Now Izanami, I know he's your godson but…" And that was as far as Sarutobi could get before he was cut off by the irate woman

"But nothing, even if Kushina hadn't asked me to do this for her, I still would, you of all people will know how he will be treated by the village. I can't let that happen to him" The Hokage was about to interrupt her but she soldiered on "Even if you protected him, he'd still be ostracised, feared for the burden he carries"

It was then that the old warhawk Danzo decided to add his thoughts "Regardless, the boy is a child of Konoha shinobi, he belongs to this village, and we can't allow losing such power"

Izanami quickly turned on him "I will never let you turn him into a weapon, he's just a baby. He deserves a family and friends, not a cruel life of pain no emotion"

The Hokage sighed in resignation; there was no way she was going to leave without him. "Danzo, please leave me with Izanami"

"But Lord Hokage…" He protested

"I said leave, don't make me call the Anbu" The look on face showed his comrade that he was truly serious, and to not be tested

"As you wish" He settled one last glare on the kunoichi and left. The Hokage resettled his gaze on her and began.

"I will allow you to take Naruto with you to raise him" Her face brightened up for the first time in days "But, I have a few conditions"

"What are they?" She was slightly worried at what he may ask of her.

"Naruto should be allowed regular visits from Jiraiya, so he check on the boy's wellbeing and the stability of the seal, and when he is ready, I wish for Naruto to take part in the Chunin exams in Konoha"

"As you wish Lord Hokage" She stood and made her way to leave

"Oh, and before you go, I would like Jiraiya to have a look at the seal and its contents, just to be safe"

**-Uchiha Clan Massacre – Aftermath—**

The Third Hokage sighed, he was getting too old for this, he'd just helped prevent a village revolt, which would have resulted in many casualties and deaths throughout the village, and had to deal with the cover-up of the perpetrator of the 'purge' to become a missing nin. Unfortunately for the Hokage, as per terms of Itachi's agreement to the task, he was allowed to spare the life of his younger brother. This was the current problem he had to deal with, what to do with the boy, he couldn't leave him to his own devices… His train of thought was interrupted by a tentative knock at his door.

"Come in" The door opened to reveal Obito "Ah welcome Obito-kun, I assume you've heard?"

"I have Hokage-sama, and I've come to make a request"

"I'm listening" The elderly Kage motioned for Obito to sit. He regarded the young man before him, he had changed so much from his genin days, his loud outspoken persona had been mellowed out to show a mature young man sure of himself and the world. Most of his change was likely due to Rin's influence, and of course raising twins was no easy feat itself. His physical appearance remained unchanged for the most part, he wore a larger, more form-fitting version of his outfit from his younger days. His face had lost its baby fat, becoming more defined and handsome, a layer of stubble graced his face. Gone were the orange lens goggles, replace instead with a plain black eye patch that covered his left eye socket. His hair was as untamed as ever, and unlikely to change any time soon. His attention was brought back to the conversation at hand as Obito spoke.

"I wish to adopt Sasuke Uchiha" The Hokage contemplated the statement, evaluating the man before him,

"May I ask why the interest, if I recall correctly, after the banishment you distanced yourself away from all Uchiha affairs"

"I don't want him to be like Kakashi, after Kakashi's father died he grew distant and cold, he buries himself in his work for Anbu and his books. I'm afraid if left to his own devices he'll fixate onto something and will become so ingrained he may never be able to live a normal life. As much as I loath to admit it, Sasuke is family, and I want him to grow up in a happy family, with people who'll love and care for him, not pamper him because of his status. Rin is more than happy with the idea, and I'm sure little Amami and Arashi will love to have another brother to play with. So please Hokage, if you haven't already decided, I wish to Adopt Sasuke Uchiha"

"Well," the Hokage chuckled, surprising the man before him "You appear to have arrived at a most opportune time, as I was just contemplating this matter myself. And I must say, despite myself, I cannot think of a much better solution to this than the one you've presented. Therefore I grant you and Rin adoptive parentship of Sasuke Uchiha, but it won't be official for a couple of weeks"

"Thank you Hokage-sama"

**A/N – Much longer than first chapter because I integrated content from V1 into this. I apologise if people don't like the skipping over Rin and Obito's blossoming relationship, but I didn't want to drag It out any longer and actually get into the main story. As always Read and Review, and offer constructive criticism. **

**Translations:**

**Aizawagakure – Village Hidden In the Swamp**

**Haruchuri - Reptile**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The early morning air was calm in the village of Aizawagakure, just before the sun had risen and the dew was still fresh. Many of the village's residents weren't awake this early to appreciate the calmness of the morning.

One of the few awake at this hour was the Kusakage, Izanami Niwakagii. She had found that starting early allowed her the time to plow through the necessary evil, that was paperwork, without distraction from her duties, it then allowed her to take the rest of the day at a relaxed pace, and maybe get some training in. However there would be no such luxury today as it was the Genin team selection, and she'd soon be meeting the prospective Jonin senseis . She momentarily let her pen rest on table as she gave a wistful sigh, just thinking about the Genin graduating this year. Firstly there was the Rookie of the Year, Ryuzetsu, a strong-willed kunoichi, whose white fringe hid the right side of her face, excelled in her ninjutsu, and had the chakra control to possibly develop into a medic nin. Then there was second in class Muku, an excellent shinobi in all accounts, and only failed to make Rookie of Year because he allowed Ryuzetsu to beat him in the test. Izanami chuckled to herself, pretty confident she was picking up on the early signs of a crush, whether either of them knew it or not, that relationship would be interesting to watch play out. Her thoughts then turned to another trio of graduates, a trio that if she could wrangle it her way, would be in a team together.

Firstly, there was Tayuya Hokumon, an orphan in the village; she was a fiery kunoichi, with a temper and mouth to match. Despite her brash nature, she found peace in music, and took to playing the flute at a young age. It was during her practice that'd show a completely different side to Tayuya, one that wasn't full of bravado and attitude. She was often considered an understated genius with her ability at her age, to weave music into genjutsu. This gift was at first discovered by accident when she was playing her flute at the academy. She was practicing a lullaby, and when she'd finished, she found the entire class asleep. After this discovery, she practiced her flute and genjutsu to finally reach a point where could control when it's a genjutsu, and when she just wants to play a song. Although, because her lineage was unknown there was a high chance that this was a kekkei Genkai, but that wouldn't be known until she had children.

Secondly, was Karin Uzumaki, the lone daughter of a refugee from Uzushiogakure, she was much like Tayuya and a force to be reckoned with when angry, but generally she was shy and slightly withdrawn girl, who only seemed to open up around her friends. In fact there were very few people she'd open up to, herself included. Karin possessed two astounding abilities, the first being Minds Eye of Kagura, a chakra sensing technique which allowed to recognise chakra signatures and track people other vast distances, a skill she frequently used in childhood to win at hide and seek. This ability was attributed to her father, who unfortunately never made it out of Uzushiogakure. The second ability being her unusual chakra; it was learnt when she was young, that she possessed extraordinary healing abilities, both for herself and for others, it turned out that her pure chakra was of a healing nature and when pumped into another person, could them of her injuries with no medical ninjutsu required.

Lastly, was Naruto Uzumaki, the son of the Yondaime Hokage and the, and Jinchuriki to the Nine-tailed fox. He was an energetic and ever happy boy, seemingly capable of worming his way into anyone's heart. It was this uncanny ability that gained him his two best friends, Karin and Tayuya. Karin was notably an easier friend to gain than Tayuya, due to being of the same clan; Izanami felt he should get to know Karin and her mother, so at least in some small way he'd have some connection to his family. The two of them were shy at first, as most kids were, but they soon became thick as thieves, in part to Naruto's sometimes goofy and carefree nature, but also due to Karin reading his chakra signature. With Tayuya, Naruto met her at the academy, and saw that she was always alone, and did his best to try and become her friends, and received many bruises for his efforts. Tayuya slowly came to depend on the blonde boy, and found someone who could understand her pain and loneliness with not knowing her parents.

It was through all this that the bright ball of energy had wormed his way into Izanami's heart as she came to love him as her own son. She'd adopted Naruto after his mother, her best friend, had died after the unsealing of Kyuubi and childbirth proved too much for her body. Much to the Sandaime's protests, she took him back to Aizawagakure with her. She'd admit that the early years had been rough, if it hadn't been for Wani and Michiyo; she doubted she'd have made it through completely sane. Their connection to Konoha hadn't been completely severed, the Sandaime had insisted on quarterly reports on the boy, which were delivered by Jiraiya. Despite being the perverted hermit he was, Naruto's godfather made good on his duties, and always visited when he had the chance, telling Naruto stories about his parents, and how proud they would be of him. Every birthday was attended, and Naruto was presented with some relic from his parents that Jiraiya had managed to uncover, for Naruto's 11th birthday Jiraiya had managed to find a box of Minato's Hiraishin Kunai and a notebook detailing the creation of the technique, but he wouldn't let Naruto try that until he was older. Naruto loved these visits from his 'Ojii-san" and vowed to one day become a great ninja like him, earning a punch upside his head from Izanami warning him that if he ever became like Jiraiya she'd kill him.

It was also thanks to Jiraiya that Naruto was even able to pass the academy graduation exam. He excelled in his taijutsu, and barely passed his theory tests, but what he was mostly having problems with was the ninjutsu portion of the exam, he had the henge and kawarimi down perfectly, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't produce the standard bunshin. Jiraiya chalked this up to a lack of chakra control on Naruto's part, due to the Kyuubi and the vast chakra reserves he had access to. Luckily there was a loophole I the exam, it only stated he needed to perform a bunshin jutsu, it never specified what type of bunshin; so Jiraiya at first, was going to teach him an element clone, but was dismayed to find his affinity was wind, and so trying to teach an elemental clone would be much more difficult than a standard bunshin. It was only when he requested the Hokage for access to the forbidden scroll, which he found the bunshin jutsu that Naruto could use, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He discretely copied the technique into a scroll and sealed it away as a precaution. When he next came to Aizawagakure, it was one week until the graduation exam, and Naruto had made no progress with the bunshin, and with Izanami's consent, began teaching him the Jutsu and explaining the benefits of Kage Bunshin. What astounded Jiraiya was the speed in which he completed the jutsu, 3 hours; the kid truly was a prodigy of hands on learning, just a shame that the same couldn't be said for his theory.

Izanami's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her office door, she glanced up at the clock, she'd been sat there for nearly 2 hours 'Goddammit, there goes my morning' She quickly did a once over of her outfit, before announcing to her visitor "Enter" The door opened to reveal cloaked figure, whose face was partly concealed by bandages, with what little remained exposed could hardly be considered 'human' skin.

"Ahh, Wani" She greeted her old student, "I assume you're here for the genin team selection." She eyed the clock before turning back to him "A bit early isn't it"

He gave a nervous chuckle at her remark,

"Yes it is, but wanted to present my choices before the others could arrive, and have a chance to argue my case without the others" Izanami took a moment to register his request.

"Wait, you mean you've already chosen the genin you wish to train"

"I have Kusakage-sama, and if you'd allow me to-"

"I'm all ears Wani, and what have I told you about calling me 'Kusakage-sama'? I think we've known each other long enough to forgo formalities"

"Very well," He allowed his composure to relax as he continued "I wish to train Naruto Uzumaki, Karin Uzumaki and Tayuya Hokumon" Izanami was taken aback by her students and request, and secretly pleased that her wish was being granted, but she refused to let him see her joy. Her voice remained neutral and formal and she replied;

"And what is your reasoning for such a request Wani?" Disquieted by his former sensei's unusually bland tone, Wani carefully formulated his response,

"I believe they'd create a well balanced team" He stated with conviction.

"How so?"

"Firstly, Karin would be able to fill the role of both tracker and medic, this is mainly due to current kekkei Genkai and abilities. Although I don't want her to rely on her healing, and I'll arrange her to have extra tuition with Michiyo for medical ninjutsu, and to only use her healing in dire circumstances"

"Hmm, okay, and what about the other two?"

"Well, Naruto is definitely brawler, he specialises in ninjutsu and taijutsu, with genjutsu being pretty much nonexistent, and his knowledge of kage bunshin is invaluable. And as for Tayuya she specialises in genjutsu, but she's still lacking in taijutsu and ninjutsu, which I hope to correct in her training. As for her role in the team, she'd act as diversion and interrogation, I can tell when we visit Konoha she'll love Anko"

"You make valid points I suppose," Feigning thought over the matter, appearing contemplative, "And I guess I doesn't hurt that two of them get along" Wani was increasingly becoming anxious as he awaited his old sensei's verdict "I guess I'll have to get the paperwork sorted. Despite his nature, Wani had to restrain himself, and only allowed a smirk to appear on his mouth. She knew why he was so happy, since bringing Naruto back to the village with her, Wani had taken up the role of 'uncle' and always doting on the boy.

"Thanks Sensei"

"Your welcome Wani, now if you don't mind I have a lot of paperwork to do, so I suggest you get ready to meat your new team"

"Yes Sensei" He turned to leave, making his way to the doot.

"Oh Wani," He stopped and turned to face his sensei "I almost forgot to ask. Have you spoken to Michiyo about these supplementary lessons?" He gave a nervous chuckle, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his head

"Erm, sort of…" He let his response hang for a second before quickly following up "Well gotta go sensei, lots of stuff to prepare" He dashed out of her office like he was running from the shinigami himself, but Izanami knew that Michiyo could be much more crueller than that. She had to stifle a giggle,

"He hasn't changed at all"

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

As the morning sun shone through the bedroom window, a flock of birds were perched on the branches of nearby tree. Roused by the start of a new day, the birds began to sing their cheerful song of chirps, blissfully unaware that one of their number wouldn't make it past breakfast.

A groaned drifted from the heap of blankets on the bed, followed by a low sound that could have been words, but too indiscernible to make out. The birds continued their song, still blissfully unaware of what was to come.

"Shud…va…foopup" The mumbling became more intelligible as a hand lazily emerged from the blankets, fumbling on the bedside desk until the fingers firmly grasped the handle of a kunai. The birds had obviously not heard the muffled warning as they still carried on.  
Suddenly the figure in bed bolted upright, letting loose the kunai with a speed and agility that betrayed her earlier slothenly behaviour;

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The kunai's aim was true as it struck the largest bird and pinned it to the tree, causing the rest of the flock to scatter and find a safer perch. The only sound to be heard was the deep breathing of the bedrooms inhabitant, her light red hair hanging limply at the sides, while a whole mess of bed-head littered the top. She reached up to rub the sleep from her eyes;

"I told that little shit stain to shut up," she spoke to no one in particular, "the little fucker had it coming" She idly glanced at the clock on her bedside table, there was no point trying to get some more sleep now she thought, albeit with more obscenities thrown in, so she might as well get prepared for the team selection. With that, she got up and made her way to the bathroom.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

BANG BANG BANG

The indiscernible mass moved beneath its blanket in response to the noise, letting out a low groan.

BANG BANG BANG

The mass moved with more fervour, parts of itself slipping from beneath the cover, revealing a pale arm at one end and a foot at the other.

BANG BANG BANG

This time the mass appeared to roll other, revealing itself to be a young girl with messy red hair; she was forcing her eyes closed as she shouted out

"Just 5 more minutes"

The bedroom door swung open, revealing a women whose long hair was the same colour as the girl in bed; her bangs framed her heart-shaped face, and contrasted sharply with her purple kimono and her green eyes.

"It's time to wake up Karin-chan, you've got to get to the academy in an hour for team placements" An evil grin spread across her face as she continued "And of course, to meet a certain, yellow haired shinobi as well," Karin blushed at the implications of her mum's statement, but kept her face buried in the blanket.

"Shut up mum, he's just my nii-chan" the blush more prevalent than ever

"Really, then why are you blushing so much?"

"AARRGH!" She threw her pillow at her mum, only to hit the closed door,

"Breakfast will be ready soon, hurry up" Karin could hear mother laughing as she went downstairs.

"Baka" She groaned as she pulled herself out of bed and got herself ready. After she'd showered and dried, she began to incoherently mumble as she got dressed. "Baka Naruto….. Stupid Idiot…. Warm Chakra" This went on for several minutes, and only stopped as she pulled on her last boot. She stood up and checked herself over in the mirror. Her hair, though only shoulder length, was a perfect match for her mothers, a vibrant shade of red which unusually matched her eyes. They in turn were framed by a pair of black rimmed glasses. She wore a modest beige zip-up jacket, which would have shown off part of her stomach had it not being covered by mesh armour. Travelling further down she wore a pair of tight bicycle shorts, for mobility, and a set of black knee-high boots with an open toe.  
Finding her appearance acceptable, she grabbed her Aizawagakure headband and went down to get a bite to eat before she set off for the academy.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

The morning wasn't so calm for a certain blond shinobi, his alarm hadn't being set and he awoke to find he only had 15 minutes to get the academy. In his hap-dash speed run of his morning routine, he managed to get to academy looking no worse for wear to the casual observer, although those who knew him better would notice his hair was much more dishevelled than usual, that and his pants were on backwards. But he carried on oblivious to this fact, casually running along the rooftops, ducking from the low-hanging branches of the support tree. You see Aizawagakure was quite a unique ninja village, in the means of its construction; the entire village was a joined system of tree houses connected by rope bridges and elevators. The choice for such a design was more function than aesthetic, for the land beneath the village was a dense swampland, hence the village's name, and very few people were capable of living down in the lower sections, mainly some farmers and the Hachurui Clan. It was due to the village design that all graduating shinobi had to have mastered the tree climbing exercise as a necessity to travelling the village at speed. The village itself was centred around one tree, the largest tree in swamp, which housed both the Hokage's domain in the upper half of the tree, while the lower half was used as the Ninja academy, and our protagonist's current destination. He ducked and weaved through the building's, expertly manoeuvring all obstacles in his frantic approach to the academy; praying to kami-sama that he wouldn't be late.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

It was sweaty and panting Naruto that stumbled through the classroom door, so out of it that he went for the first seat available. In his exhaustion it took him a few seconds to realise that something wasn't right about his seat. The cushion felt odd, somehow firmer and less comfortable, it wasn't until he looked down that he noticed the problem, he was floating. Or at least to the civilian eye it looked as though he was floating, in truth, he was actually sat on a fellow student's lap. There was an awkward silence as the boy beneath him reverted back to his natural colours.

"As flattered as I am Uzumaki-kun, I'm afraid I'm just not like 'that'" It took a moment for the words to sink in

"Waahhh!" Naruto leapt up from the boy as though he'd been burned, mindful of the laughter from his classmates. He took a moment to collect himself before he responded

"Sorry Nishiki, didn't see you there"

"Yea I get that a lot" he deadpanned "Be more careful next time, who knows who's lap you'd end up in next time" Naruto's face gained a pinkish hue as that statement received more laughter from his classmates. This time, being more mindful of his surroundings, he began his quest to find suitable seating. He eventually found a seat paying no mind as to who he was sitting next to.

"Hey shithead, didn't know you batted for the other team" Great, he just had to sit next to _her. _To turned to face the girl sat next to him, her light red hair hanging limply from beneath her cap, with her the trademark bang hanging over the front of her face.

"Morning Tayuya-chan" He couldn't be bothered trying to argue against her statement, it would be a losing battle anyway. He took her retaliating punch with little response, it was only playful, and Naruto knew from experience she could hit much harder if she wanted to.

Noticing her friends rather sullen mood, Tayuya floundered as to what to say, she rarely ever saw him looking this down.

"Hey shitstain, w-what's eating you? You look down"

"Nothing" He grumbled as he sank his head into his arms, attempting to shy away from the conversation

"C'mon dickwad, I won't stop asking until you tell me" Still no response. A sly smirk spread on her face as an evil glint twinkled in her eye. She idly pulled her flute from her holster and began to twirl it in her fingers, "You know, it'd be a shame if I had to get 'creative'" Naruto bolted upright

"You wouldn't?" The look of terror on his face almost comical

"Well that depends on you, gonna tell me what's up or not?" He grumbled in defeat, there was no getting past it, she'd threatened him with_ that. _There was no way he could top it in anyway. He let out a sigh.

"If you really want to know, it's that I'm gonna miss you guys…"

"What the fuck are you talking about dickbreath?"

"It's just that, I doubt you, Karin and me will end up on the same team, and that after the team selection I'll be stuck with people who don't particularly like me, and I won't get to see you two as much." She hid her sudden blush, taken aback by his statement, but was luckily saved from discovery by the arrival of another redhead.

"Good morning Naruto-nii-san" Her crimson eyes wide behind her glasses, Naruto quickly adopted a smile to his face, he didn't want Karin-chan to worry about him

"Morning Karin-nee-chan" His carefree smile causing her to blush, she idly laced and unlaced her fingers as she asked

"Erm.. Can I sit with you please."

"Sure thing Karin-nee-chan" Her blush was maintained as she pulled out the seat. The previous conversation had effectively stop, with a comfortable silence reigning over the trio as they sat and waited for their sensei to arrive to announce the team assignments.

**-o-o-o-o-o-**

10 Minutes later…

"… and Team 8 consists of Tayuya Hokumon," Aforementioned red-head suddenly jerked to attention as she heard her name, "Karin Uzumaki," She allowed a small smile to grace her face, as she waited in anticipation for her next teammate, praying to kami-sama that it would be her hyperactive cousin. Naruto for his part had slumped himself down even lower, so sure that he wouldn't be teamed with his two friends. "…and Naruto Uzumaki" He suddenly jumped into the air and let loose a cry of joy, only to receive a swift bop on the head from Tayuya;

"Stop making a scene dickhead, you're fucking embarrassing our team"

"Tayuya! Language!" Their sensei scolded. To which Tayuya only mumbled an apology in response. Their sensei didn't press the matter, she knew from experience that it was the best she could get out of Tayuya, and was secretly grateful that she'd be hopefully leaving her classsoon. "As I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted," she allowed a glare at both Tayuya and Naruto, "Your sensei will be Wani Hachurui, and he has requested to meet you at the Hachurui Clan compound"

"All right lets go!" Exclaimed an excited Naruto as he bounded out of the classroom. Swiftly followed by an embarrassed Karin who shouted,

"Wait for us Nii-san" She too was reluctantly followed by Tayuya

"Bakas"

**A/N – It's been a while, all I can say is I got caught up in university exams, and then got distracted in summer. But chapter 3 is done, and longer than the previous 2. I plan on maybe adding genin team selection from Konoha to highlight the changes. But for that I need either suggestions for 1 character to be replaced by Obito and Rin's Daughter, or 2 new OC's to be her teammates.**

**I'll NEVER give up on this story without any kind of notice, and if I do give it up, I'll gladly offer it up for adoption.**

**I'm also gonna start a series of Naruto One-shots that I'll keep bundled together in one story, there's no real themes as of yet, but I have several NarutoXKarin themed ideas and another idea that I'm keeping under wraps**

**Again thanks for those who fav, follow and review, it's nice to know that people enjoy my writing, even when I don't think I'm that good myself. **


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